Shops at Don Mills dining!

Now that the Shops at Don Mills is in full swing I invite you to check out the newest addition to the Shops: Joey Don Mills Grill & Lounge!

I and most of The Millar Team have had the pleasure of dining at Joey's and we were impressed! The food, service and atmosphere were fantastic! Here is a little write up about Joey Don Mills Grill & lounge. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!
Karen

Shops at Don Mills update

Attention all Don Mills residents! It has come to our attention through an email circular that Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong is holding a meeting on the evening of Monday, Sept. 28 at the Don Mills Collegiate to discuss Phase Two of the Don Mills Centre. Details can be found by going to this web-site:

http://www.dmw-ward34.ca/pdf/Sept28-DonMillsMtng

If you are available Monday evening and support the DMRI in their wish to get a
Community Centre and possibly a new twin pad Hockey Arena on the Don Mills Centre
site, please attend the meeting and ask him to support the application when it
reaches City Council on October 1st, 2009.

We encourage everyone to come out and hear about the proposed changes.

Karen

Cottage Life Contest Winner!

Congratulations to Kevin Tureski for winning the Grand Prize in the Cottage Life Magazine Contest. The photo contest will be featured in the issue hitting the newstands in early-mid November and it will be on display at the Cottage Life show Nov 6-8.

The exposure and colours are untouched; the only digital manipulation was to straighten the horizon, crop and sharpen a bit. He took this shot from a canoe at 6:37am on a cool June morning with his Nikon D200 and a 20 year-old 70-210mm AF zoom lens at 210mm, f4, 1/640s, ISO 200.
Congrats, Kevin!

Karen

Come and Play in Town Square Sept. 26!

Come out for some family fun at the Shops at Don Mills Town Square this Saturday from 12 noon to 4pm. There will be a jumbo slide, a bouncing castle, fantastic balloon creations by Debbie Stevens or cool off in the great water feature!

Enjoy!
Karen

McNally Robinson hosting great events this fall!

The new McNally Robinson (Shops at Don Mills) are always hosting great events and most are free! We invite you to take a peak at upcoming events.

Jeff & Katrina from the Millar Team recommend attending Brunch with Stuart McLean on September 26, 2009 for (tickets are $25) as well as Joseph Boyden - The Walrus Reads on September 29, 2009 (free).

McNally Robinson also arrange events for children including Storytime every Wednesday from 10am to 11am!

Enjoy!
Karen

Two day Banana Republic secret sale!

We have received a communication from Banana Republic stating that from September 16-17 all regular priced merchandise will be 40% off (terms & conditions apply). The catch: you must present the cashier with the discount coupon from their communication. If you are interested in receiving this email with the coupon attached, please let us know so we can forward it to you.

Enjoy!
Karen

Don Mills needs your help!

We recently received a communication from Terry West, the President of the Don Mills Residents Inc. (DMRI) regarding Phase 2 of Shops at Don Mills development that we would like to pass on to you:

=========================================================

Dear Don Mills Resident,

As you are aware the DMRI has been negotiating for many years with Cadillac Fairview regarding their proposals for the addition of residential units to the Don Mills site. This is Phase Two of the redevelopment and we had reached agreement some years ago on the number of units, density, layout and maximum heights. As part of this agreement Cadillac Fairview had agreed to provide a Community Centre on the site that will include a full size swimming pool. The details of this agreement were circulated to the whole community and were overwhelmingly endorsed at that time by nearly 90% of those who replied to a questionnaire.

Unfortunately, City planning staff are recommending that the current Cadillac Fairview application not be accepted, citing a number of issues, including the amount of designated land for parkland or recreational use to be given to the City (it would be less than that required under the current bylaw), the height of the proposed buildings along the Donway West, and the overall density of the proposal. Cadillac Fairview have indicated that they are prepared to meet the requirements of the designated parkland bylaw and in addition have offered a commitment of $17 million in 2010 funds for the construction of a Community Centre of approximately 50,000 square feet. Should this offer not be accepted by Community Council, the commitment of the $17 million would no longer apply and the application will proceed to the Ontario Municipal Board.

The OMB does not have the power to require Cadillac Fairview to build a Community Centre. Our own experience and the advice of our legal Council suggests that the OMB will accept the Phase Two application as requested, particularly as the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) has to follow Provincial Guidelines that currently call for increased density within designated urban areas, which would apply to Don Mills. The proposed heights and densities are considerably lower than those being agreed upon for neighbouring communities in Toronto. The acceptance of the Phase Two application will at this time guarantee the funds for a Community Centre in Don Mills. The DMRI strongly believes, with the current financial crisis facing the City, that if this opportunity is missed that such a facility may never be built.

It is therefore critical that as many members of the community as possible attend the Community Council meeting to show support for the application. As the full support of our three councillors is required we are also asking that you phone or email your Councillor indicating your support and asking them to vote in favour of the application. The contact information can be found below. Should the application be approved at this meeting it will allow construction to proceed of the proposed buildings along The Donway West, between the Post Office and 75 The Donway. The location of the other buildings could be changed following a decision on the future of the Don Mills Arena. The DMRI is committed to working with Civitan to fully explore all possibilities of keeping the Civitan Hockey programme within Don Mills, preferably within the Don Mills Centre site.

The Community Council Meeting will be held at the North York Civic Centre, 5100 Yonge Street, North York this coming Tuesday, September 15th. The meeting will start at 2:30 pm. Parking facilities are available behind the Civic Centre on the west side of Beecroft Road as well as on Beecroft Road itself.

The DMRI has chartered a bus to take residents to the meeting who do not have a car or who prefer not to drive. It will leave the parking lot next to the Post Office and behind McNally Robinson Booksellers at approximately 1:30 pm but will be available from 1:00 pm. It will return after the item has been dealt with at Community Council.

Please contact your local Councillor and ask for their support!

Cliff Jenkins - 416 395 0374 - councillor_jenkins@toronto.ca
Denzil Minnan-Wong - 416 397 9256 - councillor_minnan-wong@toronto.ca
John Parker - 416 392 0215 - councillor_parker@toronto.ca

Thank you.

Terry West
President, DMRI

Welcome to the Millar Team Blog!

Hi!

Welcome to the Millar Team Blog!  As this is our first ever entry, I thought I would give you a little background information on myself as well as my team.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Karen Millar and I am a real estate agent selling in the Beach, Downtown, East York, Leaside, Don Mills and right on to North, East and West of the city... basically the GTA and then some! I have been in the business for over 25 years and now find myself surrounded by a team of six people who just happen to be my direct family members.  Ian Millar (my husband) is our fixer upper and man of all trades. We also have three buyer specialists that look after our buyers all over the GTA & surrounding areas. They are John Welsh (my brother), Jeff Vedan (my son-in-law) and Jamie Millar (my son). Dana Millar (my youngest daughter) is the Marketing Coordinator while Katrina Vedan (my eldest daughter) is the Client Care Coordinator.

The Millar Team Blog is a tool to keep you informed about the real estate market, provide you with events happening in and around our neighbourhood and most of all,  share information that we think benefit you, our valued visitors and clients

We hope you enjoy our weekly entry into the world of blogging. If you have any questions or would like to post something to our blog, please send it to karen@karenmillar.com

Talk to you again next week!

Karen